Undergarment



Patented Oct. 19, 1948 UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICEk Merle Speicher, St. Louis, Mo. Application February 7, 1947, Serial No. '726,997

This invention relates to undergarments and more particularly to elastic. undergarments of the form-reducing or form-shaping type;

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved elastic undergarment which is Very simple in structure, Very durable and very comfortable to wear.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved elastic undergarment of th'e knitted type which is substantially seamless and wherein the garment is constructed to yield in a substantially uniform manner at points of increased bulk without overstressing. the threads of elastic yarn at said points and which is adapted to conform smoothly to the natural contours of the wearers body without imposing excessive restraint on the wearer, and whereby natural body movements are substantially uninhibited. l

Further objects and advantages of th'e invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example one form of the invention, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a pair of womans elastic under pants constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is -a side elevational view of the garment shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the knitted structure employed in the garment of Figure 1, said detail view showing the manner of expanding the number of thread loops of th'e garment at certain specified critical points in order to provide additional garment area at said points.

Referring to the drawings, II designates an undergarment comprising a pair of womans under pants. The undergarment is knitted in horizontal stitch courses and the yarn employed is of an elastic type, such as nylon-wrapped rubber, or a similar yarn havingvelastic qualities. The garment is seamless throughout and includes a crotch portion I2 of non-elastic yarn. The waist is knit to form a hem at I3 and similar hems are kiit at the edges of'th'e leg portions, as shown at I I4.

By making the garment seamless throughout the possibility of stitches unravelling and causing runs such as are common in hose and other 'garments is substantially reduced, as compared 4 Claims. (Cl. 66-177) tour at the hips, the knitted stitch' courses are gradually expanded downwardly at four substantially equally spaced regions beginning at points in the upper intermediate portion of the garment. The points Where expansion of the stitch courses begins in the front portion of the garment are substantially symmetrically located and are shownin Figure 1 at I 5, I5. The rear side of the garment has similar symmetrically located points I6. The stitch courses are contracted downwardly from th'e intermediate portion of the garment to inner points on the leg portions thereof, as shown at I1, I1 in Figure 1, The rear sides of said leg portions also have contracting stitch courses identical with and symmetrical with those of the front sides With respect to the plane of the garment.

Figure 3 illustrates the method employed to produce the expanded or contracted stitch courses. Th'e loops I8, I9 and 2l) form part of a normal stitch course. The next 4adjacent course has three loops 2|, 22 and 23 passing through the loop I9 instead of one loop as in a normal stitch course. This increases the number of loops in said adjacent Vcourse by two additional loops, as compared with a normal stitch course. The next succeeding stitch course may have multiple loops passing through each of the loops 2|, 22 and 23, or only through loop 22, depending upon the degree of stitch loop expansion required. In either event, the area of material increases laterally with each succeeding expanded stitch course. The contracted stitch courses are formed by reversing thek above procedure. Considering Figure 3, loops ZI, 22 and 23 would then be regarded as lying in a normal stitch course and the loop ends 24, 25, 26 and 21 would engage a single loop I9 in th'e contracted stitch course.

By expanding the stitch course downwardly from points I5 and I6 and upwardly from the leg points Il maximum garment area is obtained at the hip portions of the garment so that the garment will fit comfortably and will not be excessively stretched or tensioned at any point thereof. The above described method of knitting also e1iminates the necessity of providing inserts of material at the intermediate portion of the garment to provide the required increased garment area. As a result the garment is substantially seamless and its durability is greatly increased since the tension on the loops is substantially uniform over the entire area of the rgarment when it is being worn.

while the embodiment specifically iuustrated herein is directed to under pants, the principle of the invention is also applicable to other elastic or semi-elastic garments such as girdles, corsets, brassires, and the like, and all such further applications as may occur to those skilled in the art are contemplated within the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that no lirn-V itations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An elastic form tting substantially seamless undergarment made of continuously knitted elastic yarn arranged in successive horizontal stitch courses, the courses being increased downwardly as to number of stitch loops therein at four substantially equally spaced points around the intermediate portion of the garment and being increased upwardly in stitch loops from certain symmetrically located points in the lower portion of the garment.

2. An elastic form tting substantially seamless undergarment made of continuously'knitted elastic yarn arranged in successive horizontal stitch courses, the courses being gradually increased downwardly as to number of stitch loops therein from four substantially equally spaced points around the upper portion of the garment and being gradually increased upwardly in stitch loops from at least two symmetrically located points in the lower portion of the garment.

3. An elastic form fitting substantially seamless pair of under pants made of continuously knitted elastic yarn arranged in successive hori- Zontal stitch courses, the courses being gradually increased downwardly as to number of stitch loops therein from two symmetrically located front points and from two symmetrically located rear 'points in the upper portion of the pants, the points being substantially equally spaced around the pants, the courses in the leg portions of the pants being gradually increased upwardly as to number of stitch loops therein from at least two points in said leg portions symmetrically located with respect to the crotch of said'pants.

4. An elastic form fitting substantially seamless pair of under pants made of continuously knitted elastic yarn arranged in successive horizontal stitch courses, the courses being gradually increased downwardly as Y to number of stitch loops therein from `two symmetrically located front points and from two symmetrically located rear points in the upper portion of the pants, the points being substantially equally spaced around the pants, the courses in the leg portions of the pants being gradually increased upwardly as to number of stitch loops therein from a pair of inner points on each leg portion, the pairs being symmetrically located with respect to the crotch of the pants.

' MERLE SPEICHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 581,253 Appleton Apr. 20, 1897 607,002 Scott July 5, 1898 2,000,073 Goas May 7, 1935 2,224,871 Kennedy Dec. 17, 1940 2,276,148 Bisch Mar. 10, 1942 2,285,012 Burkey June 2, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 516,496 Great Britain Jan. 3, 1940 

